Remembrance resulting in Transformation

Scripture:

Luke 24:6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,  7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”  8 Then they remembered his words,

Observation:

We know that Jesus had been teaching the disciples about the resurrection. This had occurred while they were traveling throughout the Galilee. We recognize here that the women had obviously been a part of the group of the disciples for they, too, had heard Jesus’ teaching. When the angels tell them to remember, they are being reminded of the words which Jesus had spoken to them. It is also an inclusion of the women into the close-knit group of disciples who had spent their time in service to Jesus. We see that not only are they encouraged to remember, but they do, indeed, remember what Jesus had told them. In the act of remembering they embrace his words and step into a life of discipleship and a new paradigm in which earthly barriers are destroyed in active kingdom living.

Application:

Family devotions were a regular feature of my life growing up. We would have breakfast together and then my parents would read from Egermeier’s Bible Story Book. Day after day, year after year, we read through that book. Years later I was sitting in a New Testament class in college and was rather pleased that I could remember so many of the stories of my childhood. They were there in my mind and had been pressed into my life because I had heard them over and over. Now, as a young adult the stories were not just stories, but they became transformational as they took on life and new meaning.

The stories of the scripture are meant to be real and life-giving. They are not just stories but when we remember and believe, they become transformational. In the case of these women they opened the door to a complete shift in societal understanding. They literally stepped into kingdom life where “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28, NRSV) When we see the opening chapter of Acts the women are there in the upper room praying. They are now in the central place, included with the disciples. It is in the moment of remembering Jesus’ words — that they were physically present with him — that everything is altered.

You and I are changed when we embrace that which we have heard. "Jesus is Risen!" Those are not just words — but they are an invitation into transformation.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the reminder and challenge to live into your life-giving words.  Amen.

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